View details of our attendance procedures.
Persistent absences and lateness will be referred to an Education Welfare Officer (EWO). A copy of our Attendance Policy can be downloaded below:
Punctuality
School registers are taken twice daily. A day counts as 2 attendances. All children are able to enter the school at 8.35 a.m. and are expected to be in class by 8.45 a.m. for the morning session. Morning registration ends at 9.00 a.m. Any child who arrives after this time will be marked as late. After 9.30 a.m., this will become an Unauthorised Absence, unless medical evidence has been provided. The afternoon registers are taken at 1.00 p.m. and close at 1.10 p.m.
It is essential that children arriving and leaving with a parent / carer outside normal hours are signed in or out from the school office. The signing in / out register in the office is used in the case of an emergency and a fire drill.
Illness and Medical Appointments
Every effort should be made to arrange medical appointments outside school hours. If it is necessary for a child to be out of school for this reason, the child should return to school directly after the appointment should the school day not have ended.
The school office should be informed before 9.15am on the morning of the first day of a child’s absence through illness and then each morning, if appropriate, for the duration of the absence.
Medical certificates may be required if an absence is greater than five days or overall attendance is acceptable.
Leave of Absence
Parents are required under the Education Act (1996) to ensure their child attends school regularly. Due to recent amendments (April 2013) that have been made to the Department for Education’s Pupil Registration Regulations to address attendance issues, it has been made clear to Head Teachers that they should not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are “exceptional circumstances”. The law does not grant parents/carers an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time. It is a common misconception that pupils are allowed to take up to ten days holiday in term time during any academic year.
If the request for a leave of absence is refused and the absence is recorded as unauthorised, the Head Teacher may refer the matter to the Local Authority requesting a Penalty Notice be issued against you.
A Penalty Notice is £60 if paid within 21 days of receipt, rising to £120 if the notice is paid after 21 days but within 28 days. If the penalty is not paid in full by the end of the 28 day period the Local Authority may prosecute for the offence to which the notice applies. Where there is more than one child, each parent may be issued with a Penalty Notice in respect of each child.
As a parent/carer, you can demonstrate your commitment to your child’s education by not allowing your child to miss school for anything other than an exceptional and unavoidable reason. Research suggests that children who are taken out of school may never catch up on the learning they have missed, which may ultimately affect exam and test results.
Each child’s attendance can be summarised as:
Attendance | Details |
---|---|
97%+ | Excellent attendance. A level which will help all aspects of a child’s progress and life in school. |
95 – 96% | Average attendance. A level in-line with national averages. |
90 – 94% | Poor attendance. Absence is now affecting attainment and progress and the school will seek to liaise with parents / carers to improve their child’s attendance levels |
Below 90% | This results in a Persistent Absence and is unacceptable. Absence IS causing serious concern and IS affecting attainment and progress. The school and the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will seek to work with the parents / carers to improve the situation. |
Outcome | Details | |
---|---|---|
LOC1 | Letter | This letter will be issued if attendance is below 92% and the school has concerns. |
LOC2 | Letter | This letter will be issued to inform parents that the school will not authorise any more absence until medical evidence is provided. |
LOC3 | Formal Meeting | A phone call will be made to invite parents to school for a meeting to discuss concerns about attendance and see whether the school can offer any support. |
Referral | EWO | A letter will be issued to inform parents that their child is being referred to the EWO and if necessary, may be placed on the Fast Track Programme. |
St Anne’s work closely with Cardinal Hume Catholic School to help improve attendance throughout the school. Fast Track promotes early intervention to ensure that attendance and punctuality issues are dealt with effectively to help your child attend school both regularly and punctually. It involves pupils, their parents and the school.
Week | Details |
---|---|
Week 1 | The fast Track process begins and home visits/appointments take place if requested by parents/carers. |
Week 3 | Formal interview. If the child’s attendance is still of concern, parents/carers will be invited to attend a formal meeting in school. |
Week 6 | Final warning letter. If there is no improvement in the child’s attendance a final warning letter will be issued. |
Week 9 | Final review. If the child’s attendance is satisfactory, no formal action will be taken and the usual school monitoring procedures will continue. If there is no improvement in the child’s attendance parents/carers may be referred to the local authority’s Legal Intervention Team. This can result in the issue of a penalty notice or prosecution in the magistrates’ court. |
Dear Parents and Carers, We are waiting for further information from the Trust about St Anne’s Catholic Primary School and our plan going forward. We will be in touch as soon as we know more information. From Tuesday 5th September all teachers will be contacting parents and carers as we look forward to catching up […]
Published: September 4, 2023
The Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust is an exempt charity. It is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales under company registration number 07890590. The registered office address is Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education HQ, Barmston Court, Turbine Business Park, Nissan Way, Washington, SR5 3NY.
School is temporarily closed following an instruction by the Department for Education, due to RAAC being in existence. Further details can be found in our letter to parents dated 01/09/2023 found on our letters / newsletters page. Please bear with us whilst we work through the detail and make the necessary arrangements to cause the least disruption to our staff and pupils. We are working very hard to make emergency arrangements and will issue further updates as soon as we are able. If you have an urgent RAAC enquiry please email raac@bwcet.com. Thankyou.
If your query is relating to a student in the school, our new temporary phone number is
0191 823 9390
This will close in 20 seconds